It is known to apply individual heat-generating electronic components or electronic circuit supports, such as hybrid circuits, circuit boards, or microhybrids, onto a metal support element for better heat dissipation. For example, the document "Hybrid integration: technology and design of thick-film circuits," 2nd edition, Alfred Huthig Verlag, Heidelberg 1988, pp. 263-269, describes housings for hybrid circuits whose bases are constituted by a metal support element. Arranged on the component side of the support element is a hybrid circuit, the electronic connections of which are guided, via insulated passthroughs, from the component side to the opposite outer side of the support element. The insulated passthroughs are arranged either in the base or in side walls of the support element, and are configured in the form of glass passthroughs. For this purpose, a preformed sintered glass element is melted into each passthrough hole of the support element, and a connector pin is melted in turn into the hole. The connector pins project slightly beyond the support element on both sides of it. The portion of the connector pins projecting from the component side is joined via bonding wires to the hybrid circuit, and is coated with noble metals, using a galvanic or electroless method, in order to allow good wire bondability. If the hybrid circuit is to be encapsulated in a hermetically sealed housing, a cover cap is placed on the support element and welded or soldered thereto, so that the hybrid circuit is enclosed in a gas-tight fashion in the space between support element and cover cap.
A disadvantage of the known art is that the connector pins are glass-mounted directly in the metal support element. The material of the support element must be adapted to the glass-mounting process so that only minor mechanical stresses occur between metal and glass in the event of thermal stress. The thermal expansion coefficient of the support element is defined thereby, and cannot be further adapted to the particular requirements of the component or circuit support placed on it. Such adaptation is required, however, in order to allow optimum heat dissipation and prevent damage to or crushing of the component or circuit support in the event of thermal stress. A further disadvantage is that the entire support element must be very strongly heated in the process of glass-mounting the connector pins. The support element can deform at the high temperatures required to melt the glass. In addition, the number of glass passthroughs manufactured with each melting operation in the furnace is disadvantageously limited by the space requirement of the support elements in the melting furnace. It is furthermore disadvantageous that, when the connector pins are surface-coated, either the entire surface of the metal support is plated, or very complex and expensive selective coating methods are required in order to gold-plate only the connector pins.